Jiten Basumatory

Jiten Basumatory is a vocalist in the genre of Hindustani Classical music who is actively involved in the music scene of not only Assam, but the entire north eastern region. Music has remained a passion for the vocalist who is at home singing modern songs, as he is with ‘Kheyal’.
The seeds of a musical career were sown in his infancy as he used to listen to his mother hum Biya Naams and Khisa Git, while going about her household chores. The humble musician, born and brought up in Kokrajhar and son of Basanta Kumar Basumatory and Badali Basumatory, remembers those days with a smile and sigh.
“I have been performing on stage for a long time, even before I came to Guwahati”, remarks Basumatory and adds, “Initially, I used to feel shy to sing on stage so I used to play instruments like the flute and Tabla”. But, prodded on by friends Paresh Barman, Pushpa Saloi and Udoy Goswami, Jiten has been fortunate enough to recognise and indulge in his life’s calling.
Vinoy Das happened to be Jiten Basumatory’s first Guru, whom he approached in the year 1985 after arriving in Guwahati. Jiten was around eighteen years old then. He explains, “Though I have been learning music since a very young age, it was very late that I came under the Guru-Sishya parampara. And I went under a Guru only when some songs became difficult to sing. Today, I can state that the real benefit of learning music can be found only in the Guru-Sishya parampara. Music should be learnt at your Guru’s house and at his feet. It cannot be learnt in schools and colleges and taking talim from your Guru’s house is the real essence of music”.
Jiten Basumatory has a host of degrees to his credit including a Bachelor of Music from Guwahati University, Master of Music from Delhi University besides being a Sangeet Visarad from Bhatkhande Sangeet Vidyapith, Lucknow. An approved artist of All India Radio in the category of classical Kheyal, Bhajan, Borgeet and Sugam Sangeet, Basumatory is also a recipient of Junior fellowship for young artists by Ministry of Human Resource and Development, Government of India.
The founder principal of Kokrajhar Music and Fine Arts College, Basumatory has performed in many prestigious musical festivals and concerts all over the country, including all the states of the north eastern region besides Delhi, Amritsar, Chennai, Kanpur and Lucknow.
He has also lent his voice for a Hindi modern song album, ‘Jan Ki Baazi’ along with Music Director, Devkumar. Though the album has hit a roadblock which has resulted in the tapes remaining undistributed, Basumatory is pretty optimistic about the eventual outcome. He is planning to cut an album of Kheyal, Bhajan and Borgeet and another album of Assamese modern songs in the near future.